It's going to take more than grisly art

[taoaxue123]

Really, what I'd like, is just to see an ARPG that remembers the roleplaying bit. I don't mean long conversations with dense dialogue trees, but there's plenty of room to inject a bit more personality in a way that doesn't bog the game down or interfere with the brisk pace. Character-specific quests, objectives or obstacles that tie into their backstory would be a good starting place POE currency trade .

Maybe there's a shortcut that you can only get by getting a critter to help you, something that only the Druid could do. If there's a rogue-adjacent class, perhaps they'll be the only one that can open certain locked doors. Even if you don't care about the narrative, there are still ways for these characters' personalities and skills to be pushed to the fore that make them more engaging to play.

Turn out the lights

(Image credit: Blizzard)
Aesthetically and tonally, Path of Exile feels more like a Diablo 2 sequel than Diablo 3. The latter looks great, but it's missing the relentless gloominess from its predecessor. I desperately miss the horror.

From what we've played, it does seem like Diablo 4 is back in grim territory. "Diablo 4's crypts feel more hateful than Diablo 3's," Tyler wrote in his Diablo 4 preview. "They're grimier and dustier, with Bloody Piles that explode like popped blisters in slow-mo." But the shared world threatens to undermine it a little bit, because that feeling of horror goes beyond the aesthetic; it's harder to appreciate the tension and embrace your fear when you've got a bunch of randos with silly names getting in your way. Thankfully, you won't come across any in dungeons POE exalted orbs .

It's going to take more than grisly art, too. The narrative, audio, lighting, enemy design—these are all big contributors. It's been a long time since Blizzard designed anything that wasn't a bright, colourful cartoon, but hopefully that means it's ready for a change.